than twenty times over the course of two weeks, and the fam-
ily were beginning to feel frightened. Whilst the energy in
their home didn’t feel negative, there was an unmistakeable
heaviness which seemed to be pervading their home. Antic-
The Interactions of Others 167
ipating the next burning candle seemed to have put them
increasingly on edge.
As much as the St Clairs longed for peace and normality,
further strangeness was on it’s way.
Whilst running a few errands in the city, Anouk was
approached by an dishevelled-looking vagrant. He insisted on
giving her a playing card, which happened to be the nine of
Spades. Uncomprehending, Anouk looked up at the man as he
spoke.
“You will be in luck,” he told her. “The nine of spades
brings luck and good fortune.”
He looked at Anouk meaningfully and then hurriedly
walked away.
Anouk dismissed the man as an oddball and swiftly forgot
about the card.
The following day was a Sunday, and the St Clairs were
uncharacteristically going out. Sundays were usually reserved
for quiet family time; a peaceful respite from the chaos of the working week. But friends had invited them out for dinner, so
they decided to break their stringent Sunday routine and enjoy a family outing.
What happened next would change their lives forever.
Neighbours told them that no more than ten minutes after
they left, a massive explosion tore through their house. In no time at all, the St Clairs beloved home was engulfed in ever-mounting flames. There was no chance of saving their beauti-
ful old house; it was razed within minutes.
Had the St Clair’s been home, they would have undoubt-
edly perished.
Of course their first thought was that their fears had been
realised and that the randomly appearing candles had been
168 The Interactions of Others
responsible for the fire. The family’s devastating sense of loss was intensified by a feeling of dread. It seemed as though the presences in their home had been hell-bent on destroying
them.
It was only once the source of the fire was determined that
they were forced to think otherwise. The subsequent investi-
gation confirmed that the fire was the result of a faulty heater in the upstairs bathroom. It appeared that an electrical short circuit had caused the devastating explosion. Interestingly, the lit candles had most often appeared in this very bathroom,
prompting the St Clairs to radically change their way of thinking.
The way the candles had been placed out of harm’s way
was particularly telling; they had never been left where they
could set something else alight. It seemed their silent benefactor had been trying to warn them all along.
It was some weeks later that Anouk chanced upon the
strange man in the city; the one who had given her the suppos-
edly lucky card. She approached him without hesitation.
“The day after you gave me your card my family lost every-
thing in a house fire,” she said. “I thought you said I’d be in luck!”
The man looked bemused.
“And so you were,” he replied.
“How can that be lucky?” she asked.
“You all lived, didn’t you?”
And that’s when the full-force of the past few weeks struck
her; her family were incredibly lucky. Not only did they all survive a potential tragedy, Anouk was filled with the conviction that they were indeed blessed. Not least because their family
The Interactions of Others 169
had a ghostly protector; who determinedly tried to warn them
as the imminent explosion loomed.
These days Vincent and Anouk are much more accept-
ing of the reality of spirits; after what had transpired it was impossible to think otherwise. They felt indebted to their persistent ghostly protector and now think of the mysteriously
appearing candles fondly. So much so that as they settled into their new home, they couldn’t help hoping that their previous
home’s unseen occupant had come along with them.
The White Dove
Spirit contact with deceased loved ones is more common than
most people think. Death does not sever the bonds of love
which unite family and friends, and the emotions which con-
nect us during life remain just as strong after our loved ones have passed.
Spirit visitations are not always outwardly obvious, and
quite often cause us to question whether we experienced them
at all. They may be so subtle that we miss them altogether,
no doubt causing no end of frustration for the spirit folk trying to make contact. They may take the form of dreams or
synchronicities, or may be as tangible as a familiar smell suddenly wafting into a room. Some spirits are able to manifest
even more substantially, creating physical disturbances to let us know that they’re there. Some even hurl photographs of
themselves off walls or mantle pieces … a sure-fire way of garnering some attention!
In many instances, spirits employ the use of signs and sym-
bols in order to make themselves known to us. They may, for
instance, repeatedly show us significant words or numbers,
often enough for us to rule out the possibility of coincidence.
170 The Interactions of Others
After my friend, Maureen’s father passed away, she kept see-
ing a car with the numberplate DADDY. Of course at first she thought it to be little more than a fluke. But as the days went by and she kept repeatedly seeing the same car in the middle
of a busy highway, she came to accept that the ever-present
numberplate was a sign from her dad.
Another friend also had the privilege of being on the
receiving end of a post-death visit from her father. Fortunately for Lesley, she was in tune enough to pick up on the perti-nent signs and symbols, leaving no doubt whatsoever that her
beloved dad was close by.
Lesley’s father, Wilfrid was not quite eighty when he suf-
fered a debilitating stroke. Although he lived for another four years, the stroke precipitated the onset of vascular dementia, which saw his mental state steadily deteriorate over the coming years. After enduring a relentless decline in both his mental and physical health, by his eighty fourth birthday, Wilfrid’s body had begun to shut down.
As Lesley and her family surrounded Wilfrid’s bed, their
emotions were running high. By now entirely immobile, Wil-
frid was enveloped in the love of his family as they honoured what was to be his very last birthday.
By the time Lesley returned home that evening, she was an
emotional wreck.
“I just sat on the edge of my bed and couldn’t stop cry-
ing,” Lesley told me. Despite Wilfrid being unwell for so many years, she felt unready to let him go. She still felt ill-prepared, and asked her guides and guardian angels to give her a sign
to warn her when Wilfrid’s death was imminent. Unsure why,
she asked them to show her a white dove. Perhaps it was an
uplifting image which signified love and freedom, a positive
The Interactions of Others 171
symbol to counteract the bleak pall of death which lay wait-
ing on the sidelines.
A week after Wilfrid’s bedside birthday gathering, his wife
and daughters had congregated at his nursing home once
again. After a l
engthy visit, Lesley and her sisters decided to make their way home. A spur of the moment decision saw
them take a slight detour, in order to take in some of the local Christmas lights. Since it was December 17th and they felt
anything but festive, the sisters hoped that the lights would
perhaps stir up some Christmas cheer.
Lesley was particularly taken with one beautifully-dec-
orated house just around the corner from her own. It was
adorned with all manner of beautiful decorations, the most
striking of which was a beautiful white dove. It sparkled with hundreds of tiny white and gold lights, the very sight of which took her breath away. It was only later that evening that its significance suddenly dawned on her; the dove was the sign she
had asked for!
Two days later, surrounded by his loving family, Wilfrid
Ashley Freeman quietly passed away. After four years of hard-
ship and struggle, he allowed himself to transition into spirit.
Despite their forewarning, Lesley and her family were shat-
tered.
That evening as she lay in bed crying herself to sleep, Les-
ley was suddenly overcome by the sense of someone being
in the room with her. She rolled over slowly, and gasped at
what she saw. There on the side of her bed was Wilfrid, sitting serenely as though he hadn’t a care in the world. His legs were crossed nonchalantly and he was reaching for Lesley’s forehead. And as he calmly stroked her brow, he smiled … word-
lessly reassuring his daughter that he was absolutely fine.
172 The Interactions of Others
Even now, almost five years after Wilfrid’s passing, Lesley
still gets teary at the recollection.
“I wondered if I could have been imagining it …” she said.
But the intense sense of love and comfort that radiated from
her vision, soon had her convinced. “I’ll never forget the feeling,” Lesley smiled. “I just knew it was Dad’s spirit!”
Over time, the pain of losing her father became less palpa-
ble, but Lesley will never entirely get over her loss. Wilfrid is particularly missed at significant family events, such as Lesley’s wedding in 2012.
Lesley and her fiancé, Jason celebrated their marriage in
Bali, together with close family and friends. As sad as it was not to have her father walking her down the aisle, Lesley was
delighted that her mother stepped in and offered to do the
honours. It was also a great comfort that Wilfrid had managed
to meet Jason just before he died. Although, by then, he was in the grips of dementia, Lesley felt that on some level her husband-to-be and father had connected.
So it was with bittersweet emotion that Lesley and Jason
flew into Bali three days before their wedding, little imagining that Wilfrid would make it known that he would definitely be
there on their special day.
Late on the evening of their arrival, Lesley was sitting
alone on their hotel balcony, testing out the duty-free cam-
era she had just bought. Since Jason was otherwise occupied
inside their hotel room, Lesley decided to test the camera on
herself, and extended her left arm to take a self-portrait.
Upon reviewing the photograph, Lesley noticed an anom-
aly immediately. There was a white filmy object floating just
above her head. She turned around to see what was behind
her, checking to see if there was something beyond her bal-
The Interactions of Others 173
cony which would account for the strange image. All Lesley
could see was a solitary, spindly tree. It looked nothing like the white ephemeral shape which had appeared in her photo.
As she zoomed into the shot, her heart jumped into her
mouth. She was suddenly struck by the realization that the
image was of a beautiful white dove, wings outstretched and
holding a love heart. It was most certainly a wedding gift from her father!
Despite bursting into tears, Lesley couldn’t have felt hap-
pier. She had no doubt that her father was right beside her, and would be sharing in the joy of her and Jason’s wedding day.
Lesley is convinced the white dove in this photograph is a sign from her father, Wilfrid.
Inexplicable events such as these remind us that there is no
barrier to love in the world of spirit. The seemingly impossible can manifest in the blink of an eye or even in the blasé click of 174 The Interactions of Others
a camera shutter, effortlessly reminding us that our loved ones are never far away
The Enigma of the Haunted House
Is there any way of knowing whether a house is haunted? Is
there a tell-tale sign, or a prevailing sense of foreboding that instantly warns us off ? Do haunted houses need to be of a certain age, or harbour tragic, bloody histories? If only it were that straightforward!
Some haunted houses are patently obvious. So much so,
that one can’t help but wonder what possessed their occupants
to live in them in the first place. Houses like Monte Cristo in the New South Wales town of Junee, scream of the ghosts which
linger within their walls. They are Victorian-era mansions
which fit the bill as far as what one would expect a haunted
house to look like. And indeed, in Monte Cristo’s case, its foreboding appearance matches the paranormal disturbances
within. It is reputed to be the most haunted house in Australia.
Not only does Monte Cristo definitely look haunted, it’s sinister history cements the likelihood of ghosts. Its past is replete with baleful occupants and tragic deaths; including that of an unfortunate infant who was fatally dropped down a stairwell.
Just as disturbing is the case of a teenage stable boy who was burnt to death in his sick-bed in the early 1900’s. As the story goes, the boy’s foreman suspected the youngster of malinger-ing, and threw a match to his straw mattress in an attempt to
catch him out. The stable boy was, however, too ill to escape
his flaming bed. The horrific circumstances of the youngster’s death seem to have imprinted themselves on the ether, as the
boy’s suffering leaves an indelible sense of doom at the scene The Interactions of Others 175
of his death. It’s of little surprise that the stable is the focus of countless paranormal disturbances.
Then of course there are the ghosts of the first owners of
Monte Cristo themselves, Christopher and Elizabeth Crawley.
Mr Crawley’s sudden and unexpected passing (as the result of
an infected carbuncle which progressed to blood poisoning)
further increases the likelihood that he is not ready to move on and leave his beloved home. And although Crawley’s wife lived
at Monte Cristo for another twenty three years after his death, it seems she is just as reluctant to leave as her husband. And indeed, in the years following her husband’s death, Mrs Crawley only left the homestead twice.
The home’s current owners, Reg and Olive Ryan, report
that Elizabeth Crawley is a regular and obvious presence.
On occasions she even shows herself; manifesting as a dense,
black-dressed apparition. Her presence is very proprietorial,
and she is quick to demonstrate her displeasure at those she
considers to be unwelcome guests.
Monte Cristo’s sinister manifestations are numerous and well-documented, and range from the benign to the horrific. Perhaps most distressing to Reg and Olive, were the deaths of numerous family pets, the means of which were quite often inexpli-
cable. The discovery that every bird in the hen house had been killed was par
ticularly disturbing, especially since their necks had been violently rung. The lock, walls and roof all remained intact, with no evidence of being tampered with.
Similarly upsetting was the early morning discovery of the
family’s five month old kitten. It lay dead in a downstairs hallway, its stomach slashed open. Again, there were no signs of
forced entry by either man or beast.
176 The Interactions of Others
As far as Monte Cristo is concerned, it’s certainly appropriate to judge a book by its cover. This is one house that cer-
tainly lives up to its ghostly expectations!
My friend, Jason is passionate about all things paranormal,
as evidenced by his self-named moniker, Jason Ghostman. He is particularly entranced by Monte Cristo, and makes a point of
trying to visit the homestead every year. Being a regular visitor, he has become good friends with Reg and Olive. As such,
he has been privy to many of Monte Cristo’s paranormal dis-
turbances, and indeed, has experienced many of them himself.
Olive, Reg and Jason on the front porch at Monte Cristo.
Jason tells me that the feeling of being watched is ever-
present at Monte Cristo, as well as the feeling of having travelled back through time.
“You almost feel like you shouldn’t be there,” he says. “And
in some rooms, you can actually start to feel really sick.” Jason tells me that on a recent ghost tour, some people refused to
The Interactions of Others 177
enter certain rooms, so strong was the feeling of revulsion and foreboding.
On one particular occasion, Jason decided to stay at Monte
Cristo overnight. He had heard numerous accounts of late
night visits by noisy, ghostly children, and was keen to encounter them for himself. As well as making a right ruckus, the
young ghosts were also reported to jump up and down on the
guests’ beds, and Jason was hopeful that they would do so to
him.
He expectantly lay in his darkened room, ears trained for
the slightest sound. The effort must have been exhausting,
because in no time at all, Jason fell fast asleep! He was devastated to discover that not only had he slept soundly through
the entire night, but he had also missed numerous ghostly
manifestations.
Although there weren’t any reports of the young ghosts
Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side Page 15